Gunfire stopped the music. Now a friend pleads for the violence to end.

Multiple men facing charges after mass shooting in Loris club

Two men are facing multiple charges after a mass shooting killed one man and injured several others in a club in the Finklea Crossroads community of Loris early Sunday.
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Two men are facing multiple charges after a mass shooting killed one man and injured several others in a club in the Finklea Crossroads community of Loris early Sunday.
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Alexander Brown planned to make music with his friend, but their song was never finished.

Laquint O’neil “Neil” Boyd, a 37-year-old father of toddler twins, who sang rhythm and blues with an “angelic” voice, was killed when a gun battle broke out at a nightclub on Green Sea Road early Sunday morning.

“There are songs we’re never going to hear him sing, words we’re never going to hear him speak just because somebody decided to pull out their gun and shoot him,” Brown said. “He never had a chance.”

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Boyd was pronounced dead at Loris Medical Center around 3:35 a.m. Sunday from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Hendrick.

“I’m just tired of all of these senseless deaths. Who’s next? … This is heartbreaking,” Brown said as tears streamed down his cheeks outside the Lancer Motel.

Brown said he and Boyd made plans to hang out Monday and work on the music CD they started creating years ago.

Brown came home Sunday night from a late shift at Sea Captain’s House and turned on the evening’s news.

“They just said it was a shooting … and they called his name. I said it couldn’t be,” Brown said, dropping his tearful eyes into a white towel. “I only know one Laquint Boyd. I said, ‘Lord, please don’t let it be him. Please!’”

‘Shots fired’

Horry County police responded to a call of shots fired at the PNR Club at 268 North Green Sea Road in the Finklea Crossroads community of Loris around 2:30 a.m.

“Multiple victims were found suffering from gunshot wounds and were transported to a local hospital,” said Krystal Dotson, a public information officer with HCPD.

Boyd died on the way to Loris Medical Center.

“He was an R&B singer,” Brown said of Boyd as more tears surfaced in his chestnut eyes. “His words were so, so touching. His voice, angelic. His heart was as big as the earth itself.”

A bouncer at PNR told police two men were arguing about something that happened in the club as they were leaving, according to an incident report. The two started shooting at each other when they went outside, the bouncer said.

A security guard at the club told police that’s when he grabbed his own gun and began firing at the shooters, the report stated.

Boyd was struck in the crossfire, along with four other men and a woman.

No other deaths had been reported in the case as of Thursday evening and the conditions of the other victims remains unknown.

The gunmen fled the scene in a red Dodge Charger and a silver Nissan Altima, the security guard told police in the report. As the Charger was leaving the scene, one of the suspects began shooting out of a window, according to the report; the guard returned fire.

Police would not say whether they would seek charges against the security guard.

“While we are actively investigating this incident, we are not ready to make such a conclusion at this time,” Dotson said.

Two men were arrested in connection to the shooting, but neither of the suspects have been linked to Boyd’s killing.

Willis Henry Boyd, 31, of Tabor City, N.C., was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempted murder, pointing a firearm at someone and possessing a weapon during a violent crime. Willis and Laquint were brothers.

He was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center, but has already bonded out.

Earl Renaldo Williams, 28, of Longs, was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder, obstructing justice, pointing a firearm at another person and possessing a weapon during a violent crime.

Williams is being held at the jail under a $42,500 bond.

More violence in Freemont

A spray of bullets ripped through homes in the Freemont community a little more than an hour after the mass shooting at the nightclub. Police believe the shootings are connected.

One man was injured and one man was killed in an apparent drive-by shooting around 4 a.m. on Freemont Road, police said.

Rainey Valentine, 57, was on the couch in his living room when one of the bullets struck him.

Two “obvious bullet holes” were found in Valentine’s home, officers noted in a report of the incident. Valentine “was not moving and had blood on his upper body” when police arrived, according to the report.

Valentine was pronounced dead in the home around 4:30 a.m., according to Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard.

Multiple houses were struck along Freemont Road — homes that officers noted in reports contained children as young as 1 year old.

Police continue to hunt for the suspect or suspects responsible for the killing of both men.

Boyd was fun, kind, giving and “very esoteric in his thinking,” Brown said. He moved back to the Loris area to help take care of his sick mother, he said, adding that Laquint Boyd — the oldest sibling in his family, was the “nucleus” that held them all together.

“I just trust in God that God’s justice will prevail, that he’s in a better place. I know he’s OK,” Brown said. “If there’s anything to learn from this it’s that we have to stop killing each other. We just have to stop.”

The violence is hurting everyone, Brown says.

“It tears me apart to see the things that go on now. It has nothing to do with color,” Brown said. “These are just human lives that are constantly, constantly being lost.”